Parker, Ginobili lead Spurs to sixth win in seven games

Dec 24, 2006 - 6:08 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg
Popovich's team was determined to end its weekend on an upbeat
note.

Tony Parker scored 19 points, Manu Ginobili added 17 and Bruce
Bowen 15 for the Spurs, who won for the sixth time in seven
games with a 112-77 rout of the New Orleans Hornets.

After managing just 78 points - their second-lowest total of the
season - in Friday's loss to the Houston Rockets, the Spurs
shot 63 percent (44-of-70) from the floor to defeat the Hornets
for the ninth time in 10 encounters.

"Everyone is doing a good job of knowing where everyone is on
the floor, and knowing their role," Popovich said. "We've
always been an unselfish team, but when you spread the ball
around, shoot like we did and play defense, we are a pretty good
basketball team."

"When you move the ball the way we do, guys are going to get
open," Bowen said. "When you have the shooters that we do, we
can get big nights from one guy, or a solid night from everyone,
and that's what we did."

San Antonio made 12-of-18 shots in the first quarter and used a
21-8 run to close the period with a 30-20 lead. Parker opened
the burst with a three-point play and Bowen and Brent Barry
added 3-pointers.

"After (Friday), we knew what we were capable of, and we wanted
to make amends for that, and I think we responded," Bowen said.
"As players, you need to have a short-term memory and go put
out the effort to win."

Devin Brown hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 36-35 midway
through the second quarter before the Spurs again took command
with a 24-8 spurt for a 60-43 bulge. Bowen and Michael Finley
scored seven points and Matt Bonner added five in the run.

San Antonio poured it on by outscoring the Hornets, 30-18, in
the third quarter. Barry, Parker and Finley hit consecutive
3-pointers for the Spurs to widen the margin to 87-64.

"They are very good on both ends of the court and very efficient
on offense," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "They have been
together a long time and know each other extremely well.
Knowing how they played (Friday), we knew they were going to
come in here ready and we didn't respond."

Bonner scored 14 points, Finley had 12 and Tim Duncan 11 for San
Antonio, which limited the Hornets to 29 second-half points.

"It's big for our bench to have a night like this and it's big
to get games where everyone chips in and contributes," Duncan
said. "This is a confidence booster that will help us down the
road win a lot of games."

The game seemed to be an instant replay of their last encounter
on December 14, when the Spurs held the Hornets to only 35
points in the second half of a 103-77 victory. Parker scored 29
and Ginobili added 24.

"I think the better the defense is, the better the shooting
becomes," Popovich said. "Momentum like that transfers. When
you play good at one end of the floor, you usually play good at
the other. The defense is really important for us and it was
good to see it."

Last season's Rookie of the Year, Chris Paul scored 20 points
and Rasual Butler added 16 for the Hornets, who lost for the
fifth time in six games despite a 40-32 rebounding edge.

"We didn't play well tonight," Butler said. "Every mistake we
made, they capitalized on it. When you play a team as good as
the Spurs, you can't make mistakes and expect to win. It's
unfortunate. We had good moments, but there were too many
mistakes."